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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25347169">Ascension of Fear</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Concept_of_Galaxies/pseuds/Concept_of_Galaxies'>Concept_of_Galaxies</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Bugs &amp; Insects, Horror, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Not Really Character Death, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Spoilers for Ancient Rome Sidequest (Rusty Quill Gaming), TMA crossover, most of this is mild but more warnings is better, the tags are a lot but I want to cover my bases</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:48:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,511</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25347169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Concept_of_Galaxies/pseuds/Concept_of_Galaxies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at how fear can overwhelm, inspire, and consume. In other words, the interactions of the PCs of Rusty Quill Gaming with the Entities of The Magnus Archives and how they become  intertwined with their own fears.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Saccharine Heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Azu, from childhood, had always been kind. It was her defining feature, something that garnered her praise from the elders, from her parents, even her begrudging siblings. “Her heart is generous,” her father would say, “Hopefully it won’t get her in trouble”, her mother would say. Azu heard both of them, talking quietly but not out of earshot. She swore to herself that she wouldn’t let it, but when the paladin of Aphrodite came and her vision happened, there was nothing her parents could say to stop her from going, or deciding that she was going to be the high priestess some day. Her mother’s face tightened, and her father was despondent for a while, but they could not refuse what she had set her mind to. </p>
<p>She found the honey bees shortly before she was to leave for Cairo. The queen was absent and her larvae dead, the hive had no hope for survival without intervention. As she turned away in tender grief, the hive called out to her, and her sweet sympathy overtook rationality. Scooping some of the still-living bees into her hands, she placed them in a jar so they would not be crushed, and carried them to the temple. During her journey, she nursed them, gave them fresh flowers. The paladin looked to her with kind eyes, and gently reassured Azu that she and her village were both going to be fine, squeezing her hand firmly but not uncomfortably. That paladin was fundamentally wrong, not that Azu was worried about the bees, far from it. Rather, she made the assumption that Azu was worried about being away from home, which was not the case. She carried those bees not as a keepsake, but as a kindness. Even the emissary of the goddess of love could not see the depths of the love Azu felt for all creatures. </p>
<p>Once she made it to the temple of Aphrodite, she did not stay long. But even while she was there, her aspirations garnered her only pity or scorn, and she felt little to no connection to the other healers there. But the bees were still alive, and for the five days she was there, she would talk to them and bring them sugar water, unable to leave them outside as the sandstorms raged. Once she could find a place for them, she would leave them be, but for now she would have to take care of them, the only beings that she did not have to keep her head raised for, the only ones in Cairo that had been unconditional in their care. </p>
<p>During her travels with the LOLOMG, she made sure to carry sugar and water as extra rations, trying to find a good place to leave them, but there was still no queen for their hive, grown to fit the jar. They would die without her care, for they rejected any queen they were introduced to. So Azu kept them, keeping them in her protection, from Damascus to Rome to Japan to Svalbard, noticing that the number of bees varied and she sometimes bled a golden liquid. She had no desire to worry the rest of the party, so she kept it close to her chest and deflected any questions. If Lay On Hands had no effect on her symptoms, it must not be important, she rationalized. Simultaneously, she became more protective, throwing herself into the path of danger as a protector more often, more wary of strangers approaching her new family. It must be the changed world, she rationalized. </p>
<p> She was considered lost, eventually. One wrong corridor, and she was separated from the rest of the party, walls closing in around her. The party dug. And dug. And dug. But they could not hear her and could not even find what they assumed was her corpse. So they left, mourning her for gone. But she was not dead yet. Close, yes, but not dead yet. So as she bled out, her jar of bees smashed by her own hand in a final act of mercy and love, she became something else. The bees she had cared for for so long crawled into her mouth, her exposed wounds, her veins. Hours later, they made it to her heart, her kind heart, the heart that made her keep the bees, and it was replaced. They finished building a new hive in her atria and ventricles. With her new saccharine heart beating, it was dripping honey inside her chest, spreading the product of the love of the hive further and further through her veins and repairing her skin with flesh toned paper. The hive had claimed its queen, and her transformation could soon be completed.</p>
<p>As she awoke from a sleep she had assumed to be final, alone, enclosed in a small tunnel, Azu began to weep, knowing that she was no longer entirely herself, that part of her now belonged to something foreign, even if she loved it and was loved in return. But what fell from her eyes was not tears, but gleaming honey. She would meet up with the party, eventually. It was a pull, to bring them closer, to join them to the hive. They were family, they were part of her, they were loved by her and she was loved by them in return. Surely they would love the hive. Everyone should join the hive. After all, who would not want to be loved?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Threads of Fate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For as long as he could remember, Grizzop had been surrounded by death. His clutch had not survived, beyond him, and even as Eva had adopted him, he knew that his time was not enough. He could do more, could make his time worth it. The Cult of Artemis did help, to an extent. It taught him about the afterlife, and focused his insurmountable energy into goals. But it could not diminish the creeping dread he felt with the idea of death. Artemis had given him a gift, connected him to the hunt with the ability to trace his prey with those blinding silver lines in the air. He didn’t mention them after a while, didn’t mention it so that he didn’t become a stationary worshipper, even if the goddess had blessed him it wouldn’t do any good in a stuffy temple. Neither his nature nor the gift would permit it.</p><p>Through his time, he took his missions, completed them on time and well. His goddess had given him a pack, and he would fight to the last to keep it. Vesseek, though not of the same goddess, was a friend through everything, even when he had to face the water. He was making a difference in what he did, and meeting the LOLOMG just as they were looking for a healer would ensure that he could continue fulfilling his personal motivation. Prague was an expansion of his pack, a way to do more and more, have more of an effect, take another action on a grand scale to help. His worst nightmares presented themselves as enemies, shambling things that had forgotten their purpose, their life, their ideas of self. </p><p>Damascus was another realization of his fear. Vesseek was beyond his help, gone across to a place where Artemis could not reach. He had to complete his task. He had to restore the river. He had to make sure Wilde wouldn’t die of exhaustion. He was unable to help his friends, his pack, but the greater good came first. Personal desires would never win over his mission, but he still whispered prayers to Artemis, for Sasha, for Azu, for Hamid, for Vesseek, never certain he could make it. Death rode in on partially translucent dogs, and they were far too much for one goblin. </p><p>Grizzop had resolved himself to death as soon as he had assessed the situation in Ancient Rome. He had always planned to make a difference, and what better way to do that then saving an entire city and changing the course of the future? If he died in the process, that would make his sacrifice worth it. As the spears impaled him, he reflected on his thoughts. He may not have lived to see the impact his actions had, but he could save Sasha, and that made it worth all of the pain.</p><p>Hours later, Grizzop’s eyes opened. He was conscious that he should be dead, and that this was not the afterlife. However, his bow and arrows were intact, though buried. And crimson veins traced through the air, instinctively telling him where people were, if they were fated to die soon. His gift had changed, morphed into something that should have disgusted him, his goddess forsaken him. He would have to deal with this. He would have to find a new purpose. His morals had been challenged, his goddess hating the undead, but he had time. And there were many, many people fated to die in this city now scorched by dragon fire. There was work to be done, and death was now an immediate reality.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Grizzop is complete! Haven't decided who to do next, but it will happen!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you're reading this, I hope you enjoyed the fic! Update schedule will be irregular, but hopefully I'll get through all the PCs eventually!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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